To send money to Cuba from the United States, you use a specialized remittance service that is authorized by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to deposit funds onto the recipient’s MLC card at a Cuban bank. Federal rules allow both family and non-family transfers, but both categories exclude recipients tied to the Cuban government, Communist Party, or military. Before you initiate anything, you need the recipient’s exact legal name, MLC card number, address, and phone number, plus a platform with legal access to the Cuban banking system.
Who You Can Send Money To
OFAC divides authorized Cuba remittances into three categories under 31 CFR 515.570. Family remittances go to close relatives. Donative remittances go to any other Cuban national. Emigration remittances help a specific person cover the cost of moving to the United States.1eCFR. 31 CFR 515.570 – Remittances
A “close relative” is broader than most people assume. It covers anyone related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption who is no more than three generations removed from you or from a common ancestor. Your mother’s first cousin qualifies. Your spouse’s great-grandchild qualifies. Your daughter’s father-in-law does not, because you share no common ancestor.2GovInfo. 31 CFR 515.339 – Close Relative If your recipient falls outside that definition, the transfer is a donative remittance instead. Since the old $1,000 quarterly cap on donative remittances was removed in June 2022, the practical distinction has narrowed.
Prohibited Recipients
Neither family nor donative remittances can go to prohibited officials of the Cuban government, prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party, or close relatives of either group. Prohibited officials include:
- Ministers, vice-ministers, and members of the Council of State and Council of Ministers
- Members and employees of the National Assembly of People’s Power and members of any provincial assembly
- All employees of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR)
- Chief editors, editors, and deputy editors of state newspapers, television, and radio programs
- Director generals and higher of all Cuban ministries, local sector chiefs of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, secretaries and first secretaries of the Confederation of Labor of Cuba and its unions, and members of the Supreme Court
You need to know more than a name and address. If your recipient works for MININT or holds an editorial post at a state media outlet, the transfer is prohibited regardless of your family relationship.3eCFR. 31 CFR 515.337 – Prohibited Officials of the Government of Cuba
How Much You Can Send
Family and donative remittances are currently uncapped. Emigration remittances are limited to two one-time payments of up to $1,000 each, meant to help a specific Cuban national with the costs of relocating to the United States.4Office of Foreign Assets Control. 732 – What Types of Remittances Are Allowed to Be Made by Persons Subject to US Jurisdiction to Persons in Cuba Senders must be at least 18. None of the three categories allow you to send funds from a blocked account, and none authorize transfers intended to finance emigration except under the specific emigration authorization.
Information to Gather Before You Start
Errors in recipient details are the most common reason funds stall in a pending status, and correcting them after submission can take days. Have everything ready before you open the app.
- A valid government-issued photo ID for yourself, such as a U.S. passport or state driver’s license
- The recipient’s full legal name exactly as it appears on their Cuban identification card; even small discrepancies can trigger a rejection
- The recipient’s MLC card number, entered character by character. The Tarjeta MLC is a prepaid card denominated in freely convertible currency, and funds are loaded directly onto it rather than picked up as cash
- The recipient’s residential address, required by both U.S. and Cuban regulations
- The recipient’s phone number for SMS or email arrival notifications
Funds typically land at one of three Cuban banks that handle MLC transactions: Banco Metropolitano, Banco de Crédito y Comercio, or Banco Popular de Ahorro. Confirm which one issued your recipient’s card. The card number alone is sometimes not enough for the service provider to route the deposit correctly.
Which Transfer Services Actually Work
The options are narrower than most senders expect, and they change. Standard U.S. peer-to-peer apps are not among them. Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, CashApp, and GoFundMe all block Cuba-related transactions, and even a payment note that mentions Cuba can get flagged. These platforms refuse Cuba activity outright rather than sort legal transfers from prohibited ones.
Western Union, which historically handled the bulk of Cuba remittances, suspended its U.S.-to-Cuba service in early 2025 and has not announced a resumption date.
What remains are specialized remittance platforms built to interact with the Cuban banking system, such as Orbit Remesas and Duales, that focus on MLC card deposits. OFAC explicitly authorizes digital payment methods for Cuba remittances, including mobile wallets, digital bank accounts, and online payment platforms, as long as the transfer meets all other requirements under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.5Office of Foreign Assets Control. 1090 – Can US Persons Send Remittances to Cuba Using Digital Payments
When you pick a service, confirm that it holds a valid OFAC license and routes funds to one of the three authorized banks rather than through a military-linked entity on the Cuba Restricted List. Compare fees. Transaction charges generally run from $5 to $25 per transfer depending on the platform and payment method, though the exchange rate markup usually matters more than the flat fee.
The Transfer, Step by Step
- Create and verify your account. You’ll provide an email, upload a photo ID, and in some cases complete identity verification similar to opening a bank account.
- Enter the recipient’s details: full name, MLC card number, address, phone number. Double-check the card number.
- Select a funding source. Most platforms accept debit cards and direct bank account links. Credit cards are sometimes accepted but often carry additional fees. Some services still offer in-person cash transactions at retail locations.
- Review the total cost. The platform should display the transfer amount, the service fee, the exchange rate applied, and the total charge before you confirm.
- Submit and save your receipt. You’ll get a tracking number, sometimes called a Money Transfer Control Number. Keep it until the recipient confirms the funds arrived.
Deposits typically appear on the MLC card within 24 to 48 hours. Some platforms advertise completion in under six hours. The recipient usually receives an automated SMS or email from their bank when the balance updates. If funds don’t arrive within the window the service promised, contact the provider with your tracking number before assuming the transfer was blocked.
The GAESA and Executive Order 14404 Issue
Beyond individual recipients, the State Department maintains a Cuba Restricted List of entities controlled by Cuban military, intelligence, and security services. Direct financial transactions with those entities are generally prohibited.6United States Department of State. Cuba Restricted List
Executive Order 14404, signed on May 1, 2026, expanded that framework under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It blocks Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), MININT, MINFAR, and any entity in which those three hold a 50 percent or greater ownership interest.7Office of Foreign Assets Control. 1258 – What Is My Exposure to Sanctions Risk for Transacting With Entities Owned by GAESA, MININT, or MINFAR GAESA controls a network of subsidiaries that includes Banco Financiero Internacional and a range of real estate, logistics, and import companies. If a remittance service routes funds through any of those, the transaction can expose both you and the service to sanctions risk. The existing authorizations for family and donative remittances remain valid, but the order also authorizes sanctions against non-Cuban foreign persons who provide support to blocked Cuban entities.8Office of Foreign Assets Control. 1251 – What Does Executive Order 14404 of May 1, 2026 Do This is why verifying which banks a platform uses matters as much as verifying its OFAC license.
Gift Tax Reporting
The IRS treats remittances as gifts. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. If you send less than that to any one person during the calendar year, you have no federal gift tax obligation and no filing requirement.9Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
If your transfers to one recipient exceed $19,000 in a year, you file IRS Form 709. Filing doesn’t necessarily mean you owe tax. The excess is reported and applied against your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. Married couples who elect to split gifts can send up to $38,000 per recipient before triggering a filing requirement.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 The threshold applies to the total you give each person across all methods. Cash handed to a visiting relative, shipped goods, and electronic transfers all count toward the same $19,000.
Penalties for Violations
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations are enforced under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The current maximum civil penalty is $111,308 per violation, which OFAC can impose without a criminal prosecution.11eCFR. 31 CFR Part 501, Subpart D – Trading With the Enemy Act Penalties Criminal violations can result in higher fines and imprisonment.
OFAC does not focus only on large-scale evasion. Sending money to a prohibited recipient, using an unlicensed intermediary, or failing to keep accurate records can each be a separate violation. The penalty depends on whether the conduct was willful, whether you voluntarily disclosed it, and the overall harm. Self-disclosure before OFAC finds the issue generally results in significantly lower penalties.
Financial institutions that process transfers keep their own compliance records under anti-money-laundering rules, but that doesn’t shift responsibility off you. Keep your own copies of transfer receipts, tracking numbers, and recipient details for at least five years after each transaction.